Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Checkerboard diamonds on top, dark patterned rectangles below, all in tall proportion.

This Shoowa prestige panel is Kuba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is piled raffia. Shoowa embroiderers generally work in geometric designs, and the patterns are often said to be composed as the stitching goes. Tall panel in two sections. The upper half shows black and cream checkered diamonds in a tight lattice, and the lower half is darker, split into two blocks of meander and lattice. The seams show clearly and the edge is plainly hemmed. It is 21 inches across and 47 long.

A good argument for pattern hopping, mid-cloth.